Paleoproterozoic in Quruqtagh terrane in Northern Tarim

Precambrian basement of the Tarim Craton was well preserved in the Quruqtagh terrane at its northern margin. Among them, the crystallized basement was mainly composed by Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic. In this contribution, we have a comprehensive synthesis on the rock assemblage and metamorphism of the Paleoproterozoic in this area and also measured the zircon U-Pb age of a meta-volcanic rock sample. Zircons from this sample yielded an excellent age of (1 965±13) Ma. Combing new data obtained in this study and previous works on regional stratigraphic framework and metamorphic events, we suggest that the Paleoproterozoic deposited during 2.0~1.8 Ga and the amphibolite-facies metamorphism took place during 1.90~1.80 Ga, which is coupled with the assembly of the Columbia supercontinent and northern Tarim terrane. Rock association, Precambrian continental crustal growth process and metamorphic features of the Northern Tarim terrane reveal that the northern Tarim terrane could be a continental massif drifted from the North China-India Craton during the breakup of the Columbia. During the assembly process of the Rodinia, the Northern Tarim terrane and Southern Tarim terrane amalgamated together, leading to the final formation of the basement of the Tarim.